


Not Just Fun and Games

by therrinninja



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Male-Female Friendship, POV Multiple, Secret Identity, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, the trouble with being superheros
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2018-12-06 03:11:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11591721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therrinninja/pseuds/therrinninja
Summary: Chat Noir, simply visiting to pick up some breakfast, accidentally asks Marinette Dupain-Cheng if she wants to be his friend. Struggles with secret identities and close-calls ensue. PoV switches frequently.





	1. Dawn of Troubles

**Author's Note:**

> Ever wonder if the phrase is "mounding irritation" or "mounting irritation"? I sure did. 
> 
> I've been sitting on this fic for a while, so I'm hoping this works out. I mean, I have until Christmas to make all of the mistakes!
> 
> I grew up down the street from a real French bakery, so that's where I'm pulling most of the food ideas from. 
> 
> And hey for the gratuitous french, but some of the language jokes just kind of work???

The metal clinked as his tail lashed against the masonry of the roof. Trepidation held him back, tightened the claws that held him secure. And yet…

His nose twitched as he savored the lovely, warm seasonings the bakery released into the city. Cinnamon, caramel, lavender, and cheese. Strawberries, and chocolate, mint and peanut butter. And warm, fresh bread. His mouth watered at the sight of the baguettes in the window, croissants lined like crescent soldiers, flanked by cookies and bonbons and tarts on all sides. 

Today. Today would be the day.

He leapt and gripped the lamp post on his way down, checking his momentum to spiral down to the pavement. It was somehow even more potent down here. Was this what catnip was like to cats? He wanted to roll around in a sea of these smells forever.

He knew why the smell was so divine. This was the Dupain-Cheng’s bakery, or T&S, assumably referring to the owners’ first names, Tom and Sabine. The best bakery in Paris, said everyone, but no-one more fervently than their daughter, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. The family lived over the shop, Marinette at the very top, with claim to what Chat would say was the best balcony in Paris. He wondered vaguely if living over the bakery meant that the family simply lived in a cloud of baking scents. Whether it soaked into their very beings, as a natural sort of mark. Like how Ladybug had smelled like a fresh batch of lemon macaroons. 

The bell jingled as he pushed the door open. The front displays were sparse, and with guilt Chat glanced out of the window at the peach glow of the sky. Was he too early?

“Coming!” a voice lilted. Marinette’s?

The question was answered as she darted around the door jam, a large metal tray stacked high with pastries in her arms. She faltered slightly at the sight of him. “H-hi, Chat Noir! How can I help you?”

Chat grinned, flipping a hand through his Chat-bangs. Magic kept his hair in place better than any product he had ever encountered. “Oh, I just wanted to check out your bakery! I’m just finishing my surveillance route, and you guys are one of the few people awake at this early hour. And since I’ve heard that this is the best bakery in the city, I wanted to beat the rush. Besides-“ he raised his eyebrows and smirked in a way he hoped was mischievous -“I understand that cute girls work in bakeries”.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Marinette had to physically restrain herself from rolling her eyes so hard they would have strained muscles. “R-really!” the smile was forced, but the grit teeth were real. “Well, we certainly are the best bakery in Paris. And we have to be up this early, to bake the bread in time for customers to pick it up. But of course that means we’re up in time to help the heroes of Paris, even if it’s just to serve them breakfast!” She slid the baking sheet of strawberry-shortbread tarts down into a glass case, before turning to search for the price tag. 

Chat’s voice betrayed that his corny grin was still around. “Well, as a hero of Paris I have to eat only the best!”

She suppressed a snort, and tamped down her mounting irritation. Didn’t Chat have a home to go to, a family to hide his identity from? She resented being awake right now, though she would never let her parents know this. And how dare Chat bother the public this early in the morning. How dare he infringe on her secret life, even if he didn’t know.

“What about Ladybug? I hope you’re fetching a perfect breakfast for her as well!”

-0-0-0-0-0-

Ladybug eating breakfast-

Chat’s mind spun into a beautiful image, Ladybug perched on a high roof, savoring a bite from a perfect croissant, smeared with jam as red as her suit, a warming blue sky burning in sunrise-

He grinned, leaning against one of the cases.

“Please don’t!”

Chat snapped to attention at the curt request, ears drooping in regret at incurring Marinette- sweet, friendly Marinette- to snap at him like that. “Sorry!”

“It’s okay”, her furrowed eye brows disagreed. “It’s just that they’re not the safest surface to lean again.”

“Just my luck that I would try to leann against them, then.” He gazed down at the croissants inside, admiring the golden-brown crackle on the tops. “And it would be my pleasure to bring Ladybug breakfast, but my fair Princess doth slumber yet, as it was my turn to run patrol.”

If his eyes hadn’t been closed, hands raised in dramatic regret, he would have seen Marinette’s shoulders tense. They did open, however, when he heard a sudden slam. Marinette straightened, having shut the door behind the pastries. 

“So just you, then?”

“Just me,” he purred, leaning instead on the cashier’s counter. “Anything you could recommend?” He watches as Marinette grinned wide and spread her arms. 

“Well, for a breakfast for one, I can’t deny that our croissants are the best! We also make stuffed croissants. Would you be interested in a croissant croque monsieur? for the Monsieur Minou?”

The teasing caused Chat to chuckle, and he was gratified to see Marinette’s smile become a bit fuller. 

“A croque monsieur would be purrrfect, Mademoiselle Marinette!”

-0-0-0-0-0-

Why did his chuckle relax her? Was she always this easily calmed by Chat Noir? The sun was cutting through the windows and directly across Chat’s face. His eyes glowed like green glass, pooling light in his irises. Flecks of gold sparkled in his hair and his ears looked slick in the warm glow of the shop. Wow. If only she could take a photo of this moment, but photos wouldn’t capture the warmth that everything gave off, including, especially, his smile. A perfect, almost ridiculously charming smile. A smile to make a professional model photographer cry. His eyelashes were barely visible in the green of his eyes, leaving nothing to distract from how his eyes must be a startling, vivid green behind the mask. She had to diffuse this somehow. 

“Well, Monsieur Noir, would you enjoy that warmed up or room temperature?”

He blinked slowly, oh wow, she wanted to sketch that - and answered “Warmed, if you don’t mind. Kitties do love their dairy warm.”

Goodness, that was bad. She booped his nose and grinned, “Then I’ll be back,” then vanished back into the kitchens.

-0-0-0-0-0-

‘Oh my god Marinette is pretty,” trickled through Chat’s consciousness as he grinned up at her, chin balanced on his palms. The sun was shining through her blue eyes till they shone as brightly as the sky, and those eyelashes! And that smile, when she laughed! The sunlight sparked in the red of her earrings, deep as strawberries, nestled against her dark, dark hair. He wished he had a way to express how perfect this moment was. If only he could find the words, maybe to write a poem to how gloriously this moment held him. 

And then she was booping- Booping!- his nose! how sweet could Marinette be before she simply was the definition of it? The perfect sweet girl surrounded by sweets, with a sweet life and sweet parents. How had luck been so kind as to place her in his life, and allow them to be friends?

She disappeared and Chat switched to looking around the shop, smiling down at the biscotti, salivating over the bonbons, and marveling at flakes of spun sugar waiting to be dusted over treats yet to be brought out. It was all too good to be true. Just so charming and warm.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Marinette pulled the sandwich from he oven, unwrapping the parchment paper to make sure it had warmed properly, before sliding it into a white cardboard box, sealing the seam with the embossed gold sticker her parents had commissioned of her logo design. Then, with a moment’ hesitation, she turned to her parents. 

“Maman? Papa? Could I give away a couple of items? It’s Chat Noir up front, and I want to thank him for all he’s done”

They blinked in surprise, then both of them smiled broadly. “Of course!” exclaimed Sabine, “Go on and pick a couple of the nicer items for him!”

“Thanks, Maman!” Marinette spun and grabbed a smaller box and a spare sticker. In a flurry of movement she scooped up a few petit-fours and an eclair, tucking them together and binding the tray box on top of the croque monsieur box with a decorative ribbon. 

when she came back out, she entered the front to see Chat gazing around, a small smile on his face. His head whipped around as she emerged, and his grin grew at the sight of the boxes. 

“How much do I owe you?” he asked as he unzipped a pocket, and withdrew a small bundle of bills. 

“Four euros, if you don’t mind,” stated Marinette, turning to face the cash register.

Chat was silent as he counted out the euros, then lurched forward as she reached out for the money. 

“Um- er-“

Marinette looked up from Chat’s claw to see him rubbing the back of his neck with his other claw.

“Is there a way we could hang out?”

The question fell between them as Marinette blinked in surprise.

“Not, like, a date, or anything!” He blushed as she took the money, and she couldn’t help but laugh. 

“I was about to say, that would be pretty odd, considering I thought you were in love with Ladybug!”

A chuckle. “That’s true, I would never want to cheat on My Lady. But, um, you are really cool and nice and aren’t you really great at video games? Because I’m okay and I’d like to play with someone?”

A sad thought, that Kitty had to use his mask to make friends. Did he really not have that many friends beyond the mask?

“Y-yeah! sure! I’m pretty off the hook at Ultimate Mecha Strike III, if you’d like to play that!” Of course she knew he liked that game, ever since they’d fought The Gamer, but Marinette, notorious for being uninterested in Ladybug and Chat Noir, wouldn’t know that. 

“You know, I’m a big fan of that game!” Chat was all smiles as he stopped fidgeting. “So we really can?”

-0-0-0-0-0-

Chat had no idea what had possessed him to ask this. Marinette took it well, at least, but what would make him think that she’d be willing to lay video games with him? The last time he’d tried it as Adrien, they’d been awkward, quiet and had been interrupted by Max’s Akumatizing. He surrendered the money and Marinette handed him a small, two-tier pyramids of pastry boxes, bound together with gold-tinted twine. Surely croque monsieurs didn’t need two boxes? But she was smiling at him and agreeing to play video games with him, so surely it was deliberate?

He bowed and grinned. “I’ll communicate next time I’m available, okay?”

She seemed to roll her eyes a little, then grinned. “Sure thing, Chat Noir. ‘Till then!”


	2. Halcyon Breaths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of Marinette, Alya and Chat Noir being happy :) Nothing like a little happy to compare against the angst later, after all!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to try to stick to a posting schedule of once a week, on Thursday evening.

"Girl, what??"  
Marinette laughed at the shock on Alya's face. A little guilt edged in, causing her to cut it short.  
Alya glanced back at Tom, then stared at Marinette. "Chat Noir was here? Buying pastries??"  
"Well, yeah." Honestly she hadn't planned on mentioning it to Alya. It had felt like such a private moment.  
"Was Ladybug there?"  
A shrug. "Didn't see her. I think he was just running patrol."  
Alya frowned in frustration. "Wait, then do you know what Chat's favorite food is?"  
"Huh?" Marinette blinked. "I mean, I sold him a croque monsieur, and a couple of extras, but it's not like he said they were his favorites."  
Alya draped herself dramatically over the counter behind Marinette as she rang up another customer. "You know I can't post that to the blog. No one really cares about what Chang Noir wanted as a snack, they want favorites! Like, what's Ladybug's favorite color? Is it red, like her suit? Or is she an orange fan?"  
"Definitely pink," answered a distracted Marinette. "I mean," as Alya looked up, "her costume is red, but her actual magic, the sparkles, are pink. So I really think her favorite is pink".  
Alya slumped again. "Conjecture. I can't post that either".  
"Well, I'll ask Chat next time I see him, okay?"  
"Thanks girl. Whenever that might be, thanks".  
As if on cue, Marinette's phone buzzed vigorously next to Alya's head. The fangirl looked over, then raised an eyebrow at the unknown number.  
"Hey Mari?"  
"Answer it, please!" Mari gasped as she dashed into the back for more croissants.  
"Hello?"  
"Ah- You aren't Marinette, are you?"  
The smile that spread over Alya's face could only be described as elation. "Adrien?!"  
The kitchen and the line went absolutely silent.  
"N-no, this is Chat Noir, superhero of Paris. Sorry, do I have the wrong number?"  
"Chat Noir? What are you doing calling Marinette? This is Alya, by the way, runner of the LadyBlog and Marinette's number one bestie".  
"Good Evening, Alya of the LadyBlog" The voice had recovered from the surprise and became as smooth as anything she'd heard on camera. "As much as I'd like to do an interview, I really did call to speak with Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Is she there?"  
"Hold on, let me check".  
The mischief that met Marinette was at high velocity and very loud. "Marinette, What on earth is Chat calling you for!?"  
Croissants flew as the force of Alya's tackle spun them form Marinette's hands, to be expertly caught by Tom.  
"Sorry, Papa!" cried Marinette as she retrieved them from her chuckling father, then rounded on Alya. "Alya, ask him yourself! I'm busy!"  
Her brain threw up the glowing green eyes of that morning, the golden hair and crisp black of the suit, and, most of all, that relax, friendly grin.  
"You know what, I think I will talk to him. Can you cover the register, Alya?"  
"Sure thing, girl, but you better tell me what this is about afterwards!" Alya passed off the cellphone and carried the croissants into the front, grinning madly.  
"Hello? Chat Noir?"  
"Bonjour, Mademoiselle Marinette. I did say I'd reach you about hanging out?"  
"Yeah, you did. Too bad your timing managed to reach Alya."  
"Did seem to brighten her day, at least"  
"You have no idea. After this call she's going to demand that I recite this whole conversation from memory so she can see if she can learn anything about you from it."  
"That's Alya, alright. I'll try to say as little as possible, lest she figure out my secret identity from a poor furrrasing."  
Marinette chuckled. "You might say less, but your puns are going to get you in the end, kitty cat."  
A gentle laugh at the other end of the line. Oh, why couldn't talking to Adrien be this easy? "Well, we still need to figure out when we can play some videogames. Shall I suggest tomorrow afternoon, around three?"  
"I presume you mean my place? I doubt a hero of your age really has a secret lair to work out of."  
"That indeed was the assumption, if I might be so bold. My own home may be empty, but nor is it welcoming."  
What an odd thing to mention. Socially flustered, Marinette veered back towards safer ground. "Three sounds fine. Oh, and what's your favorite food?"  
"What for?"  
"Well, if we give Alya a solid fact about you, she'll give in trying to interrogate me about the rest of the conversation."  
A heartier laugh at this. "Well, Alya can be trusted with a secret like that. My favorite food is croissants, hold the camembert."  
Marinette's laugh echoed his amusement. Alya had certainly tried to justify the idea that camembert was Chat Noir's favorite food, but Marinette had always assumed that this was actually to do with his Kwami. "You do realize that said favorite food means that Alya will be staking out the bakery in the hopes that you'll come by again?"  
"Truly possible, but she'd have to compete with my feline-like stealth first!"  
"I'm sure she'll try anyway. She is the runner of the LadyBlog, after all."  
"I would be disappointed otherwise."

-0-0-0-0-

Her grin was enormous when she opened the front door to her home. "Monsieur Chat".  
"Mademoiselle Marinette".  
She bowed stiffly at the waist, arms gesturing inward. "Do come in, oh Hero of Paris".  
"It would be my honor" Chat returned the bow as ridiculously, then strode in. "Wow!"  
Behind him Chat heard the door close, and then a poke in his back. "Oh please, like you haven't been here before. My parents told me you got a good look last time, when you were dealing with the Animan Akuma."  
"That may be true, but it's still nice to see!"  
What there was to see was a plush, compact living space. The couch wrapped around and was festooned in pale pink pillows. The counter was completely covered by crafting supplies and food. The large windows were framed in white-painted wood, lending a distinctively old-school French flare to the more modern furnishings. Sunlight seemed to stay in here longer than his home. Sunlight and warmth were welcome, and so was he.  
The whole room welcomed him.  
Marinette entered his line of sight, striding into the entertainment space and picking up the game controllers. "Well?"  
Before he thought better of it, Chat had vaulted over the couches and scooped up the controller from her hands, then reversed direction to throw himself in the mountain of pink and polka-dot pillows. "Ready when you are!"  
The afternoon sped past, a blur of video games and cookies and laughter and teasing. Chat, at one point, having been hit with a pillow after chanting "Mess up mesS UP MESS UP MESS UP" in a silly attempt to cause a fumble, had the sudden revelation that this would be a happy moment he would hold on to, no matter what. Marinette wrinkled her nose at him as he pushed away the pillow, and squeaked in surprise as Chat suddenly turned to the screen to perform a takedown, willing the level.  
"Bad kitty!"  
"And yet, the winner!" Chat lept up and danced as much as he could in the small space.  
"Hey Chat?"  
"Yeah?" He turned to see her gazing out the window, at the dimming sun. "Oh".  
"It's your turn to run patrol, right?"  
He had to bite back the sigh before spinning around to grin and salute. "That it is, Princess! I'm flattered that you've noticed! Do you pay attention this closely to all superheros, or is this just my honor?"  
She snorted, but the small grin was still there. Had - had he pinned it?  
She stood, and held out a fist. Chat's breath caught at the silent significance of the gesture. He returned the fist bump, looking up from the action to take in a small, soft smile on her lips.  
"What can I say. You're my favorite black cat."  
It wasn't often Chat was flustered by how supportive, how warm, how accepting a person could be. And yet, Marinette, his soft-spoken friend, had done it. He desperately tried to cover it by scooping up a cookie and garbling out "For the road".  
Marinette nodded. "Of course!"  
He stepped to the window and opened it. One foot on the ledge, cookie in mouth, left hand prepping his staff, he turned and winked at Marinette before disappearing, quickly elevating himself over the rooftops of Paris and out towards the school's roof in particular. A small glance back showed a silhouette that scrambled his mind slightly.  
A small, slim female figure, framed in light, pigtails bobbing slightly as she waved goodbye. 

-0-0-0-0-

The small red Kwami drifted down from Marinette's room to settle on her shoulder. Marinette retrieved the last cookie and handed it to her as Tikki declared "sounds like that was fun!"  
"It was! Chat Noir is kind of dorky, but he's fun to relax with!"  
"Excellent! Marinette, it sounds like you two had a really nice time. Just remember, you should be careful with your secret identity, okay?"  
"Of course! I can't let Chat go guessing that I'm Ladybug! What a mess that would be!"  
"Oh, and Alya's been trying to call you for hoourrs! You should probably make sure she hasn't exploded from excitement!"

-0-0-0-0-


	3. No Satisfaction for Cats

The subtle crunch of a pen between Nino’s jaws jogged Adrien from his doze. His hand peeled away from his cheek, leaving a round pink mark glowing. Sleep slowed his blinks as he turned to his friend, who was frantically spitting black goo.  
“Nino, bathroom” Mademoiselle Boustier directed before turning back to her grading. She had generously allowed time for her students to get a head-start on their homework, and Adrien had accidentally squandered it by taking a cat-nap!  
He scrubbed his eyes into his arm and tried to focus on the screen in front of him. All he managed to do was focus on the just-perceptible snore behind him. A groan followed it, then a hiss of “Marinette!”  
A tiny chuckle escaped him. Clearly Marinette had taken advantage of the time for a similar activity. Cat-naps should be mandatory, though getting cats to do what you want was always a fruitless endeavour.  
Almost as fruitless as trying to talk to his Lady about the other night. She had seemed totally uninterested, especially when he tried to ask if she would like to hang out with Marinette, too.  
He hoped she had friends, in her civilian life. She probably had loads of them. Only a crowd of friends would make any sense for his Lady. She was probably friends with everyone, the way -  
“Marinette!” the hiss repeated, and so did the groan.  
“Bwa-h?” she sounded worse than he felt, and that was saying something. Adrien would have traded food for sleep, and he was always down for food. A nice quiche, like the one at the Boulangerie….

“Adrien?”  
Large blue eyes were so close. Her hand rested on the desk next to him, her bag slung over her shoulders.  
Somewhere in his mouth he found his tongue. “Marinette, hey, is class over?”  
The stammering cut in, and she started waving her hands “Uh, er, yeah! Everyone’s left, and er, it’s lunchtime, and I thought, you seemed wired -tired! So maybe you needed somewhere to sleep? And my house is just across the square, and I was thinking maybe, er, you wanted to rest there?”  
He grinned at the offer. “I’ll ask Nathalie. That would be great! I could really use a real cat-snooze, instead of just cat-naps.”  
She blinked, but froze as he levered himself from his seat, using one of her shoulders as support. The hopes of a bakery-fresh lunch warmed him, and he nearly closed his eyes to dream of fresh croissants for lunch. Or breakfast. In the middle of the night, during patrol, presented to his Lady as a midnight snack-  
“Adrien!”  
Arms, strong arms, were wrapped around his torso, and it felt like he was being held up by a solid wood post. He forced his eyes open and realized what had happened. “Thanks, Marinette. Maybe I shouldn’t close my eyes until we get to your place.”  
His sleepy grin was met with a huge one, and awkward giggle. She didn’t say anything, but did drop her arms from around him, and started walking him down the steps of the room, and down the stairs to the first floor. Along the way he tried to start a conversation, hoping it might keep him awake.  
“So your parent’s bakery, do they do anything themed after Ladybug or Chat Noir?”  
The question seemed to startle her, but she answered, “Well, uh, I feel like we could, but that seems a little weird or something? Like we don’t even know their favorite pastry or anything, or maybe if we knew their birthdays, then we could make something themed for them, but not really, not right now, no.”  
Adrien rapped his knuckles on the glass of the car window, while responding, “That’s a shame. I’ve heard that Chat is a big fan of chouquettes, at the very least.” The glass rolled down and Adrien exchanged a few words with his bodyguard, then with Nathalie over the phone, then grinned at Marinette. “Looks like I’m good to go!”  
And at those words, Marinette was tackled by Alya, Nino hot on her heals. 

It wasn’t until his third bite of croque-monsieur that Alya made him choke.  
“So Adrien, guess who’s been getting to spend her evenings with a mysterious masked hero?”  
“Alya!” The reprimand was hushed and urgent as Marinette started forwards.  
Quick but sleepy thinking was required for what Adrien managed to say next. “Oh yeah? Is he Spec-CAT-ular?”  
Nino groaned as Alya shot him a look. Marinette refused to look up from the table. She didn’t seem to be blushing. It was more like she was frozen in place. The pun hadn’t been that bad, was it? He’d tried it on Ladybug the night before, and she’d only rolled her eyes at him.  
Alya was the first to soften. “You already knew?”  
“I, uh,” he scratched his cheek with a finger, “I must have caught word of it somehow. Also I can’t really imagine Ladybug wanting for friendship?”  
“You think Chat doesn’t have many friends?”  
The bluntness of the question stunned Adrien. “Why do you say that?”  
Well,” Marinette shrugged, “You seem to think he has to turn to civilians to find friends, and that he has to depend on his superhero status to make friends. Also that Ladybug wouldn’t want to hang out with him, even when an akuma isn’t around.” she paused for breath, and seemed to realize the tone she’d just used- confident, assertive, and usually opinionated. Adrien barely had a chance to appreciate it when- “I-I mean, that’s just what it sounded like to me, and maybe I just misheard you, I’m pretty tired, and it’s not like I even know Ladybug, or Chat Noir? We didn’t really talk about that. Didn’t you want to take a nap?”  
The sudden change in topic was exactly what Adrien wanted, and he nodded eagerly as Alya tried to chip in “Hold on, that’s not what you told me-”  
But Marinette was already standing, and Adrien was quick to follow, strolling from the park and through the doors and up the stairs into her home. Here she froze, and as he stepped into the living area she gestured, a little harder than necessary, at the couch. “Right! So! There’s the couch, and I’ll find a blanket, and -right!”  
Appreciation skipped words and simply hummed in his chest as Adrien lay down. He jumped slightly as Marinette yelped, but it seemed as though she had just gotten some water on herself while filling a glass that she placed in front of him. Something lightweight and warm was dropped onto his feet, and a voice stammered “I’m, er, going back, okay?”  
He grinned up from the couch, and placed his phone on the table next to the water. “Thanks Marinette, I’ll try to catch you guys when class starts again.”  
He settled back down, and didn’t hear the door close behind her.

-o-o-o-

[Alya: Girl, get down here and explain yourself!]  
Marinette smiled at her phone.  
“Man, Alya is not going to let this go, is she?”  
“Yeah,” Marinette slid her phone back into her pocket and turned her smile to Tikki, “But this is pretty big, after all.”  
“You betcha! Adrien is napping on your couch! And you’ve been spending time with Chat Noir! You’re having a very busy week!”  
Marinette giggled, “You’re right! I also have to wonder if Chat will be dropping by again tonight. I like playing video games with him, but what if an akuma attacks?”  
“Well, I mean, you could just wait for Chat to leave, then head out, too?”  
“I hope it’ll be that easy!” She placed a hand on the doorknob. “Okay, Tikki, you should hide! I’m sure Alya is staring down the door!”  
Only when Tikki was settled did Marinette open the door, and realize she had to revise her thoughts on Alya’s excitement.  
“Marinette!” Alya pounced, grasping her shoulders urgently, “You have a lot of explaining to do!” There was a gleam in Alya’s eyes, and Marinette suddenly wished she had spent more time upstairs.  
“Y-yeah?”  
“First of all, Oh my god, Adrien is sleeping at your place?!?”  
Marinette’s tension was easily hidden with the genuine squee. “I know, right?!”  
“Girl, that was a totally cool thing for you to do for him!”  
“Yeahhh, I hope he sleeps well! He seemed really tired in class.”  
“He was asleep in class. Tired isn’t even touching that. Anyway -” The glint brighter, and a fiendish smile had joined it. “About that little rant about Ladybug and Chat Noir..”  
“Ahh…”  
“Firstly, Chat Noir is a superhero! And he’s worked with you before! IF that isn’t a sign, I don’t know what is. Chat Noir likes you!”  
“Chat Noir likes me?” the level tone was one of the purplexed. Marinette blinked, baffled by Alya’s announcement. “But Chat likes Ladybug!”  
“Well, apparently, he has a crush on you, too. Because he’s a superhero, he could hang out with supermodels, or Chloe Bougoise, and he’s decided he likes hanging out with you!”

-o-o-o-

“What do you see in Marinette Dupain-Cheng?”  
The question froze her partner. “What?”  
She looked out over the rooftops, out across the city of lights, the city of love. “What do you see in her?”  
Chat straightened, then leaned slightly against a chimney. He looked out over the city, too. Their city. “She’s nice.”  
“And?”  
Chat sighed. “And I like to hang out with a friend. She’s friendly and we both like the same video games. And her parents are awesome and make amazing food.”  
She switched her eyes to him, focusing on him and him alone. He felt the stare and shifted, then laughed nervously. “Why, My Lady, you make me feel like you’re jealous of her.”  
The responding laugh was hollow, though he couldn’t have explained how he knew.  
“She’s really nice!” the objection felt defensive. Blond hair bounced as he turned suddenly to challenge her, riled.  
Ladybug blinked. “I didn’t say she wasn’t?” but she wasn’t making eye contact, and for some reason this irked Chat deeply. His tail flicked against the chimney, and he reconsidered his tone.  
“Would you like to get breakfast with me?”  
She met his eyes then, lips pursed, and sighed. “Okay, Chaton. Though nowhere will be open quite yet.”  
“There’s an excellent boulangerie I know of, they should be opening just about when we get there.”  
Chiding, amused eyes met his. “The T&S, I presume? Chaton, you’re a bit predictable.”  
Why did he feel embarrassed? His cheeks and neck flared with stress, and he thanked the pre-dawn darkness for hiding it.  
“Are…”  
His ears strained painfully for her words. “Ladybug?”  
“Are you sure you don’t have a crush on her?”  
“I…” Chat Noir blinked. “Bugaboo, there’s no lady like you.”  
“I don’t- good. It would be dangerous to be romantically attached to anyone. And we don’t want to put anyone in danger.” The smile was a bit watery, but she tried for the wink anyway. “Kinda the opposite of our job, y’know?”  
It was the wink that crushed Chat, and he turned his eyes down to the tiles under his feet, clenching and re-clenching his fists. “Yeah.”  
“You still want to go get breakfast?”  
His silence dragged on as he tried to refind his tongue. Eventually he managed a mumbled, “No, that’s okay.”  
She didn’t press it.

-o-o-o-

“Oh Tikki, what have I done?”  
Marinette lay spread-eagled on her bed, gazing absently at the trap door above her and chewing her lip. Tikki sat nearby, pensively eating a cookie.  
“Well, you protected your identity. And Chat Noir. He’s a nice guy, but you’re both so important to Paris, and you can’t have people used as leverage. Even yourselves.” She took another bite, and around it continued, “Imagine if someone kidnapped you and you couldn’t turn into Ladybug because they thought, and rightly so, that it would bother Chat Noir! Besides, you didn’t say he couldn't be friendly, just,” Tikki swallowed, and sighed, “just not friends. Remember how badly it upset you when you thought Vulpina had Adrien? You nearly gave up your earrings! If you didn’t have Chat Noir to see through the illusion, we would have lost you. As heros, you both need to stay impartial towards civilians, even if it happens to be your civilian personas.”  
“You’re right. I just feel pretty crummy about telling Chat that. He looked so hurt.”  
Tikki considered this in another bite of the cookie. “He is a very positive person. And he’s definitely smart enough to understand.”  
“Yeah. I’ll have to trust that Chat doesn’t do anything too foolish. He’s so-”  
A buzzing broke her train of thought, and Marinette found that Alya was trying to video call her.  
“Hello?”  
The screen glowed with Alya’s face, and her eyebrows were raised very high. “What, no dark, handsome visitors of the night?”  
Marinette gave a weak chuckle. “Not tonight. I haven’t seen him for a bit, actually. Not sure what’s up with him.”  
“Silly lover boy, he’s going to get nowhere with you if he doesn’t keep visiting!”  
“Thanks, Alya. Like I want or need a black cat as a boyfriend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt bad about kicking Chat! Also sorry for the delay (hiatus). I, uh, was busy being an adult, but I have many chapters to type up to make up for it!


	4. Midnight Lights

He had wandered around Paris for ages after he had spoken with Ladybug, trying to tamp down the sadness. He wasn’t even sure what he was sad about. That Ladybug had told him he couldn’t be friends with Marinette? It had hurt, definitely. But, he could still be friends with her as Adrien, right? It would be hard. Much harder. That she had lined out that they absolutely could not know each other's identity? That wasn’t new either. She had also shut down his flirting, but again, not new. There had been a new, bitter taste in it as she had said it this time, though. As if she was saying he also couldn’t have her as a civilian. As if he’d know where to start when he met her as a civilian, besides trying to scrape his jaw off the ground in astonishment. But somehow, all of that at once, that was what put him on edge, made him grit his teeth as he watched the sunrise alone. 

“De-transformez moi.”

And suddenly he wasn’t so alone. Adrien Agreste smiled quietly up at Plagg, who ruffled the boy’s hair gently. “Sorry there, kiddo. That’s rough.”

“Yeah.” he sighed, then tried a grin. “At least I’m not banned from being friendly with Marinette. Just, it’s so much easier to be friends with her as Chat Noir. She likes me better as Chat.”

“Don’t worry. If she likes you as Chat, she’ll like you as Adrien. You are the same dork, either way. It was her idea to let you sleep at her place, right?”

“Thanks, Plagg. I think. And you’re right. I’m pretty sure she would be willing to be friends with the ‘Adrien’ me. Are you up for another transformation?”

There was a general grumbling, until Adrien assured him that the plan was for food. With that, and a few minutes’ jaunt across the roofs of his city, Chat Noir landed lightly in front of his favorite bakery.

Marinette wasn’t in sight as Chat stepped in, pausing to sniff appreciatively. Apricots today, and chocolate and yeast and warmth. 

“Bonjour!” sang Sabrine, appearing from the back. “Ah, Chat Noir! How can we help you?”

Chat grinned back, and asked “Marinette wouldn’t happen to be up, is she?”

“Ah, I’m sorry, but no, she’s sound asleep right now. Do I need to get her?”

“No, no no, that’s fine. Um, just, let her know I’d like to talk to her, when she can. In the meantime, Could I get a croissant, please? And a cheese danish?”

Sabine was kind and gifted him with the food, and soon Chat was humming cheerily, stepping back into his room to share the morning snack with his hungry, hungry kwami.

 

-o-o-o-

 

“Allo?”

“Bonjooouuuur Marinette! How’s the mysterious Chat Noir today?”

“What?”

“Weren't you going to hang out with Chat Noir last night?”

Admittedly, Marinette had to pause for a minute to sort out what had happened. “Oh, yeah, no, Chat had to cancel. Apparently Ladybug needed him on a patrol with her last night.”

“Uuuugh, where am I going to get juicy Chat Noir facts now??”

“I guess you’re just going to have to start trying to interview him again.”

Alya pumped a fist just in frame of her phone’s camera. “I’ll just have to amp up my journalist skills! Or my matchmaking. Can’t have Ladybug getting in the way of your lovelife, afterall.”

“Alya please, like Ladybug is interested in Chat Noir.”

“Riiiiver in the NIIIIIIIIILLLLLLE”

 

-o-o-o-

 

“Chat Noir, can you confirm having a crush on someone besides your fantastic partner?”

The duo froze in the middle of their smiling for cameras. Chat was the first to recover, while Ladybug’s scowl grew, and he grinned wide and draped an arm over his partner’s stiff shoulders. 

“I cannot. My Lady here is the only Lady in my life. Any rumors of my dating a civilian are incorrect.” He had just completed the statement when Alya shoved her phone closer to him. 

“So the rumors of you spending time with a civilian is untrue?”

Ladybug lifted his arm away and stepped in. “Chat Noir and I do not have romantic interests. Our dedication to protecting Paris is our only focus. It would be inappropriate to fraternize with those we stand to protect, for risk of endangering the public.”

Alya’s frustrated face was still present as Chat and Ladybug answered a few more questions, and soon departed. 

 

-o-o-o-

 

“But why would he lie? Aren’t superheroes not supposed to lie, ever?”

“Alya, we’ve talked about this before. They probably have to dodge the truth all the time, just like you’ve said over and over. It’s not like they could just let anybody know their identity, so they probably have to make up stories about where they are all the time. Besides, maybe it wasn’t a lie? What if they really do mean to stay away from endangering civilians?”   
“But that means they  aren’t paradigms for truth, justice and liberty! Then they’re just two of the three, and even then the justice is kind of bent if they’re lying.”

“It isn’t lying if truth isn’t part of the paradigm. Then it’s just Justice and Liberty. Go and reread Judge Dredd, Alya.”

“You see if I don’t!”

“Good night, Alya.”

“Night, Mar-mar. Try to get some sleep for once, okay?”

“Okay. Salut!” With a press of her thumb, Marinette ended the call and tucked her phone away. She leaned against the railings of her balcony, smiling out over the city streets below. Just short of the horizon the Eiffel Tower rose as a thorn of light in a glittering city. She blinked sleepily at the gentle flash of traffic as a car pulled down the side-street below. It buzzed on, down towards the Agrest estate. She couldn't really see the walls from here, but she smiled towards it anyway. Maybe Adrien was also having a restless evening, gazing out at the rooftops of Paris. And with Chat Noir on patrol again tonight, maybe Adrien would see a dark figure with flashing green eyes  loping down the roofs, past his window. They helped Paris feel safe. 

And with that thought came a clatter of boots on the decking behind her. 

Marinette spun around, eyes snapping to the same green ones  she had been idly thinking about.

“Chat Noir?”

Though she could see them, his eyes didn’t meet hers. He stepped down from the peaked roof and approached her, footsteps slow, hands fidgeting. “Hi, Marinette.”

“What are you doing here?”

The eyes flicked up and studied  her face. 

“Are we friends?”

“What?”

“Are we -” he gestured towards her, then back towards himself “friends?”

She paused, even though she knew even the pause probably hurt. “I like hanging out with you,” she started carefully, “but-”

The eyes flickered, as if Chat was flinching. 

“Well, I’m just worried about what Ladybug said.What if an akuma tried to use me to get to you? I mean, what if Ladybug had a crush on someone and an Akuma knew? That could be disastrous.”

Marinette stared at Chat’s hands, frozen in an anxious grip around each other. “I wouldn’t want to cause you that kind of trouble.”

It was a quiet sigh Chat gave in response, and the silence hung between them afterwards.

“So we can’t hang out anymore.”

“I’m sorry, Chat. I heard what Ladybug said on the news, and she had a good point.”

“She always does.”

The silence returned, then- 

“Can I ask you for a favor?”

“Of course! What is it?”

“There’s a boy in your class, and I’ve noticed most of your classmates have been Akumatized. So could you keep an eye on him? As a civilian, you wouldn’t be placing him in danger if you befriended him. It would take a big load off my mind.”

Marinette blinked. “Definitely! I’m on pretty great terms with all of the guys in my class, so I can definitely do that! Who is it?”

“Adrien Agreste.”

“Oh, no.”

The black ears couldn’t have drooped further. “Why not?”

Marinette slumped back on the railing, and groaned. “Chat, do you have a crush on anyone?”

“Well, Ladybug, bien sur.”

“I mean a real one, like, you like-like someone, not just flirt with them whenever.”

“But I really do like Ladybug.”

She just groaned in response. “Well, I can’t function around Adrien. I get all tongue-tied and clumsy -well, clumsier- around him. I’m so clumsy the only way I can really say anything is when I don’t think he’s going to hear it!” She flailed her fingers at this point, but decided not to mention the phone theft. Chat’s eyes were wide, and his expression blank. 

“You … Like, Adrien?”

“I mean, yes? He’s kind of amazing.”

“I always thought you just kind of put up with m-him.”

“No, he’s just so amazing, so it’s really hard to talk to him.”

“Why not talk to him the way you do with me?”

“Because he isn’t you?”

Chat grinned, sliding back into his lopsided humor. “How so?”

“Chat,” Marinette rolled her eyes. “For one thing, he doesn’t dress up like a cat!”

“You know he would if he could.”

She doubled over with giggles. “Can you imagine! Adrien Agreste in a black cat onesie!”

“He would flaunt it, too! In public!” Chat posed like a model. “He would absolutely Vogue it up!” He snapped another pose, then another as Marinette laughed, then held her hands up like a camera, shouting about he needed to imagine a big plate of spaghetti for kitties. Chat obliged, curling his claws into paw-like balls and making goofy innocent faces. Marinette continued to mime a camera, making shutter noises and encouraging Chat with as he continued to pout and grin at the imaginary lens until they both dissolved into giggles. When they finally caught their breath, Marinette giggled “You’re a pretty paw-some model yourself!” Marinette chuckled, settling back. 

Chat snapped another pose. “In another life, I could be a fashion star!”

“You can dream, kitty.”

“So will you try?”

Marinette looked up at him, purplexed. 

“Try to hang out with Adrien Agreste? For me?”

He looked so hopeful.

“Okay, Chat. But what am I going to say?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well I can’t really just go up and say ‘Adrien, wanna be bestfriends with me?’ I’ll have fallen over myself by the time I try to make eye contact. I can’t even imagine what would happen if I asked him on a date!”

Chat seemed slightly flushed when she finished her sentence. “Hold on”.

He jumped down into her room, then, after some shuffling, came back up with a magazine page from her wall.

“Okay, I’ll hold this up, and you can try to practice, okay?”

She bit her lip. “I don't know. I’ve tried this before and it’s still really hard.”

“Come on, I’ll even do my best Adrien impression.” Chat held up the face shot of Adrien in front of his own face, while behind it saying “Hi there Marinette, how are you?”

She doubled over again. “Now you’re just teasing me!”

“Me? Adrien Agreste? Tease another living soul? Never!” Chat even lowered the picture to wink over it, then held it back up. “Come on, for real. How are you?”

Marinette, right on cue, immediately disintegrated. “Oh, um, hi, er, Adrien. Uhm, I was wondering if you, uhhm, might want to go out, to a movie? With me? Or not, that would be okay, er. Nevermind - Okay Chat I’m doing the best I can please stop!”

Chat froze, having decided flexing behind the picture was the right idea. “Well, what if you just imagined Adrien was me?”

“But he’s not?” Marinette sighed and slumped against the railing. 

A bell chimed in the distance, and Chat Noir’s ears crooked to hear it better, and he breathed, “Twelve.” In a normal tone, he fixed Marinette in a serious emerald stare. “Before I go, can I ask something?”

Marinette nodded, watching Chat as he carefully placed the picture down on the table and then made such earnest eye contact she felt almost winded. 

“You will try to be friends with Adrien, right?”

“R-Right. Yes. I will.” gasped Marinette. His eyes were so green, green as sunlight through new summer leaves. Even in the dark of a Parisian midnight, his eyes gleamed, his iris golden from the green of the lense - how green his eyes must be underneath-

Chat stepped closer, and folded Marinette into a hug. “Thank you, Marinette Dupont-Cheng. You really are miraculous.”

And she hugged him back, marvelling that as much as Chat clearly wanted to stay friends, he didn’t argue, and begged her to care for a friend instead. Was he this close to Adrien, and was so worried that he really, truly felt that they needed each other?

It was Chat who decided the end of the hug, but he was blinking when he did step back. 

“Thank you, Mademoiselle.” And he bowed, and lept from the roof. 

She watched him go, loping across the rooftops in easy long strides, until he vanished behind a chimney.

 

-o-o-o-

 

Chat paused behind a near chimney, not too far from his own home, and stifled the hitch in his breath. Why did Marinette and Ladybug both have to be so right? He scrubbed his eyes, and shook his shoulders. He could do it, be as smart and clear-thinking as them. Hopefully he could be friends with Marinette as Adrien the same way he was as Chat. Maybe they could be safe. 

“Chat!”

His head snapped around. “Marinette?!” Scrambling up, he peered around the chimney. How could she think she could navigate the roofs like he could? 

The blue eyes blinked up at him, but the smiling face was not Marinette’s, instead partially hidden behind the familiar red with black spots. 

“Oh, Ladybug! Sorry, I just-”

“It’s okay, Chat Noir. I kind of overhead the conversation. It’s really nice that you’re so concerned for your friend. 

“Oh, ah, thank you, Ladybug.” Were her eyes always so blue? They sparkled in the lights of the Parisian midnight, and the hair on Chat’s neck stood as he realized he had seen eyes so similar not five minutes before. “I, um, just wanted to make sure that if I really can’t be friends with civilians they can be friends with each other. But Mademoiselle Dupont-Cheng has some difficulty talking with Monsieur Agrest, so I felt that I had to help her try to talk to him.”

“She is kind of hopeless about that, isn’t she?”

Chat shook his head so hard his bangs bounced against his eyelids. “She’ll be able to. Marinette is strong, she can get over her nerves. Adrien is more than eager to be friends with her. No reason to be scared.”

“Scared?”

“Isn’t that what this is? She doesn’t want to mess up making friends?”

The light laugh sounded almost sad. “Oh Chatton, you have a lot to learn. Marinette is nervous because she  _ likes _ Adrien.”

“Likes?” His quizzical expression was mirrored by his voice. She told me she likes him, and that’s good, since Adrien likes Marinette.”

The stare Ladybug gave Chat Noir was so overwhelmed that he began to babble. “Well, yeah, because she’s so nice, and creative, and smart, and just friendly to everyone! Who wouldn’t like her?”

She broke the stare. “Chloe, for one.”

“Well, besides her. Marinette is super nice!”

“That’s not what I meant, though.” Ladybug looked flustered and frustrated, a small crease in her brow. “She doesn’t like Adrien just as a friend.”

Chat’s brain whirred in confusion. Not just a friend? What else - well, I mean, sure, maybe a romantic idea? But Marinette wasn’t smooth at all around Adrien, and was forthright in her platonic level with Chat Noir. 

“But she’s so….” he trailed off in confusion.

“So?”

“I never thought she really liked him? That’s part of why I asked her to really try with him? She’s always kind of distant, or, like, talking quickly, the way you do when you’re trying to get rid of someone! She said she like-liked him, but doesn’t that mean like friends? Better than acquaintances?”

“Oh Chaton. Maybe when you have a crush on someone, you’ll get it. You get so nervous and breathless you panic and end up just running your mouth until they either leave or you run away-” Chat huffed slightly- “and then you’re left wondering how on earth you can’t even say three words without your mouth running off so and jumbling them so badly it’s some bizarre Exquisite Corpse of a sentence.”

He swallowed the slight, then asked the most terrifying question. 

“You have someone that makes you feel that way?”

The look she passed him pierced his heart, his breath pressed out of him as if he’d been punched. It was more than just wistful. A sharpness to the ylights in her eyes make his own eyes prick slightly. 

“That bad, huh?”

She pressed her eyes closed, then looked away. “I’m just normal when I’m not Ladybug. I’m usually okay, but so clumsy, awkward, or just shy when he’s around. I don’t know if he’ll ever like me that way.”

“Hey,” breathed Chat, his pulse suddenly faster than was comfortable, and he gripped her shoulder in one hand, “Don’t forget, I also have a civilian life. And I have the biggest crush on the most amazing woman, and she barely knows I exist. And there’s no way I’m giving up on her, even if I’m just a normal guy, and she says it’ll never work out. And she’s a stunning superhero that I’ve yet to know in civilian form. But I know she’s still Ladybug, even if she isn’t wearing her spots.”

She chuckled, and smiled, and patted his hand. “Careful, kitty, that sounded sincere.”

She ran back down the roof, back the way he had come.

His mouth opened to argue, but the words didn’t come. He closed it, and swallowed. To the night he whispered “As you wish, My Lady.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm terrible and actually had to read the latest chapter of Fanboy (http://archiveofourown.org/works/9251936/chapters/20974763) to feel really bad about my own hiatus. Also if you haven't read Fanboy Go! GO GO GO! GO! Go read now!!


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